An Open Letter to Sophia Wilansky
by admin • November 28, 2016 • Alumni • 0 Comments
As most of you know, one of our alumni was severely injured during the No Dakota Access Pipeline protests last week. We wrote the open letter of support below in response to the tragic events that have occurred. Sophia Wilansky is an avid activist and artist living in NYC. She has been a part of countless protests against the construction of pipelines and use of fracking in the Northeast. She came down to North Dakota to support the #NoDAPL effort. Sophia is an active member of Hoods4Justice and NYC Shut It Down. She was only one of 300 peaceful protestors who were injured during last week’s controversy. Wayne Wilansky, Sophia’s father, brought a message from her to a recent press conference: “This is not about me. This is about what we are doing to our environment, our indigenous people and our country.” You can support Sophia on FB via her support page and you can still donate to her GoFundMe to cover her medical expenses and to support Standing Rock in her name. #adaalumni #sophiawilansky #compassionateresistance
https://www.facebook.com/SophiaWilanskySupport/
https://www.gofundme.com/30aezxs
http://www.ocetisakowincamp.org/donate
Dear Sophia,
We have been following your activities ever since you were a student here at the Accademia dell’Arte. Through your actions in the last years, you have been a continual reminder to all of us that confronting power is a massive undertaking and is fraught with risks of every sort. The recent actions in North Dakota and the egregious attack on hundreds of peaceful protesters and you, in particular, has confirmed our belief that the rapacious greed and systemic deformity of our corporate/governance must be confronted more than ever with the courage that you and your brothers and sisters there at Standing Rock have shown the world. We know, and see by your personal example, that courage when combined with compassion and clarity of mission is an unstoppable combination.
You are in our thoughts and our hearts. We sincerely hope that your example will help to spread the spirit of compassionate resistance around the world.
Faculty, staff and students of the Accademia dell’Arte
